Thinking I might have to start keeping something a little more heavy duty than the current pair of pliers in my vest when I go out. Apparently they found this guy no more than a couple miles from a couple ponds I frequent!

Being a conservationist I have opinions that may not be mainstream regarding what are known as exotic pets. In an age where we have a great deal of objection to government regulations over almost anything................ Some things simply need to be regulated and done so in a very tight fashion. If people who wanted to keep a Burmese Python (for instance) had to undergo the same sort of licensing and oversight as a Falconer does in order to keep a bird in the mew, there would be far less instance of this sort of displaced animal.

I know, we don't need more laws that intrude on individual rights and property ownership but you gotta look at the Pythons in The Everglades and wonder how that happened don't you? Myself, I've never wanted to keep what could be considered a harmful or dangerous specie as a pet, let alone one that could also be considered invasive.

If you want to own a giant Boa Constrictor or an Alligator, that's cool, just apply for your Federal Fish & Wildlife permit and pay the costs. That would no doubt raise a clamor with the 'pet sellers' but it would also cut way down on the number of people who take these creatures on as an impulse item only to find that they can not care for them as they inevitably get larger.

Whoever saw it first should have just shot it. If they get established, it'll be like the Lake Trout in Yellowstone, the Pike in Alaska, and the Burmese Python in Florida for starters. Gators are survivalists and if it's possible, they will survive.

Two young boys in my province were suffocated by a snake (python?) this summer when it escaped into the air ducts from the pet shop below the apartment they were sleeping in. Nobody should die by snake in Canada; bear or moose maybe, but not snake.

Yeah, I've just never been able to understand the draw to keep a reptile large enough to consume you as a pet.
Interestingly enough, there was an update in the local paper this morning saying the alligator in question was most likely not a pet and had definitely never had any exposure to humans based on it's response to being handled at the rescue where it was taken. The handler there said his opinion/theory was that someone vacationing down south probably saw it crossing the road or something, grabbed it for a souvenier and then dumped it.

Really hoping his theory is correct. Gators have been on the planet quite a bit longer than we have, thinking they've learned a thing or two about adaptation to different environments over the last few million years. Gotta say I'm not crazy about the idea of them figuring out how to make it in the climate up here. The big carp than ran into my leg the other day almost made me soil my waders, pretty sure bumping into something like this would do the job all the way.